Author: Ivan Bonsell

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The situation is changing very quickly, but we’ll use our blog to keep our members updated as much as we can. For starters, and to play catch up, here’s a message which went out on Tuesday morning, with more to follow….   Many members are understandably worried and concerned about the situation and the University’s response to it. In a…

UNISON Supports the UCU Strikers!

Given the democratic support from the Students’ Union, the eve of the next round of strike action is a good time to remind everyone that UCU have the full support of the UNISON branch. Our members also voted overwhelmingly for strike action, but the national turnout was not sufficient for UNISON to call its members out on strike. If our…

UNISON’s response to the closure of Phoenix Nursery

Our members will have seen the announcement that the University intends to close Phoenix Nursery, explained as a consolidation of nursery provision at One World Nursery in Moulsecoomb. This is a case of history repeating itself, since the same proposal was made almost exactly ten years ago. Thanks to a campaign involving nursery staff, students, the children themselves, the UNISON…

National Higher Education Conference, January 2020

Delegates from around the UK met in Milton Keynes last week for the annual conference of UNISON’s university workers. Fifteen motions were debated, and there was a speech from Christine McAnea, Assistant General Secretary and an interesting presentation from Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at WonkHE. The conference was dominated by the general election result, what this might mean in relation…

2019 General Election Result

Some thoughts, in an entirely personal capacity of course…. The Conservative victory at the general election is a major setback for working people. The bumbling bigot Johnson will whip up prejudice and launch further attacks on our services, livelihoods and environment. This was not a Trump-like victory. Trump mobilised a base organising mass rallies, for example. By contrast, Johnson boycotted…

UCU Strike 25th November – 4th December

UCU members are taking strike action across the University for eight working days from Monday 25th November. We support the strike! UNISON members at the University voted 78% in favour of strike action over pay, with a 51% turnout. Our members feel exasperated about real-terms pay falling over the last ten years and wanted to campaign for something better, but…

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